Does the Woodmere School Bus Driver’s Conviction of Felonies Lift the Caps on Noneconomic Damages?

Now that former Durham Transportation school bus driver Johnthony Walker has been found guilty of six counts of criminally negligent homicide by a Hamilton County jury, the question arises as to whether the felony convictions lift Tennessee’s caps on noneconomic damages for victims of his negligence. Walker was driving 37 children from Woodmere Elementary School when the wreck occurred on a winding Chattanooga road on November 21, 2016. Six children were killed.

Walker was also was convicted of 11 counts of reckless aggravated assault and seven counts of assault, and found guilty of reckless endangerment, reckless driving and using his phone.

Tennessee law limits noneconomic damages to a maximum of $750,000 in most cases, under a law passed by the Republican dominated legislature and signed by Governor Haslam in 2011. Economic damages not capped, however. Economic damages include loss of earnings. So for the children killed in the school bus crash, damage awards would appeared to be limited to $750,000 plus a projection of the child’s future earnings potential, reduced to present cash value. However, there is an exception, where the defendant’s negligent act or omission is considered to be a criminal act that results in the conviction of a felony.

TCA § 29-39-102(h) provides that:

“The limitation on the amount of noneconomic damages imposed by subdivision (a)(2) and subsections (b)-(e) shall not apply to personal injury and wrongful death actions:

(4) If the defendant’s act or omission results in the defendant being convicted of a felony under the laws of this state, another state, or under federal law, and that act or omission caused the damages or injuries.”

So, at least as to Walker, the $750,000 cap no longer applies. But what about his employer and other defendants who have been sued by the families of the victims? Do the caps still apply?

TCA § 29-39-102(j) states that:

“The liability of a defendant for noneconomic damages whose liability is alleged to be vicarious shall be determined separately from that of any alleged agent, employee or representative.”

Tennessee’s appellate courts have yet to rule on whether the exemptions from the caps apply to defendants other than the person convicted of the felony. However, it would seem, that at a minimum, the company that employed the felon should be held fully responsible for his actions and misdeeds, as they selected and hired him and were responsible for training and supervising him. The meaning of subsection (j) has not yet been interpreted by the Tennessee Supreme Court, but it does not appear to explicitly excuse an employer from full liability for all noneconomic damages caused by its employee found guilty of a felony.